By Zainab Fattah and Tal Barak Harif (Bloomberg)
May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Arab states will shun this year’s IOSCO conference of global regulators after the organization decided to host it in Tel Aviv, the United Arab Emirates’ chief regulator said.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions, which includes more than 100 country members, will hold its annual meeting starting June 8 in Israel’s business center.
“I think most Arab countries won’t attend if the meeting is held in Israel and we are no different,” Abdullah al- Turaifi, chief executive officer of Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority, said in a telephone interview from Dubai today. “Many members objected to the meeting in Israel especially after the events in Gaza and there was talk of moving it elsewhere.”
Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible
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